Well Hidden in Plain Sight

  Living on the Bayou, I have learned one thing.  If nothing else, I have learned to watch where I step.  While it is not often that I find a snake on my walks, occasionally I will cross paths with one.  We will both hesitate long enough to give each other the "once over", as my grandmother used to say.  After making sure neither of us has plans of harming the other, we go on our merry ways.  It is a rare occasion that I will kill a snake or any critter, for that matter.

  Recently, another critter and I shared the same path.  This one was so well camouflaged that I almost missed it.  A small toad was in an area that is filled with gravel to catch the runoff from the rooftop.  The glorifed drain runoff fills with leaves and needs to be cleaned to work properly.  With all of the rains that  have been pelting the Bayou, this chore could not be postponed.  So I tackled it.  Armed with a rake and little else, I started clearing the debris from the long ditch.  Had the toad not hopped, I would have never noticed it.  The critter blended so well with its surroundings, when I photographed it, I still had trouble finding it!  

  Check the photograph!  I promise, there is a toad in there!  This was my happy find for the day.  Yep, toad frogs and snakes do, indeed, make me happy.  I am just glad that a snake did not find my little toad friend!  Maybe his camouflage works!